Predicting manufacture time in precast production: a case study of technology transfer

Abstract

The highly automated precast manufacturing industry raised a series of problems which run outside the scope of their capability, meaning there are certain technologies not available on the industry side. The industry has thus turned to academic institute for help. Unfortunately, there is a substantial gap existing between industry and academia, causing many problems when transferring technology from academia to industry. This study aims to address the problems that the industry is facing, in the mean time to find a way or a working model to narrow the gap in between industry and academia. Ultimately, it can then be used to help improve the technology transfer procedure from academia to industry in more generic terms. The main issue concerns the industry is to make estimation available through the control and management of the production procedure for precast elements, a solution for the concept of Predictive Manufacture Control(PMC) needs to be found. The study of various technology transfer models in facilitating the technology transfer activities ought to be carried out to further identify an appropriate model which can generate promising outcomes. A diligent research on the domain area was conducted, detailed information were made available and understood clearly before continuing to search for a concrete solution. Literature review both on potential useful knowledge to form new technologies and technology transfer models were performed thoroughly. The methods that can be used to solve the problems mentioned above are given, as the solution to PMC is a complicated one, it was discussed case by case, within each case numerous alternatives were also exploited and discussed. An evolved model for technology transfer based on previous researchers’ work is proposed, with two innovative changes being created. One is to add a piloting path on top of the regular path for doing technology transfer, another one is to introduce a new step of study the pros and cons to assure that candidate new technology will satisfy both industry and academia and mitigate the risks that comes with it in an early stage. Further validation is needed for the evolved technology transfer model to serve the purpose under more generic settings. Closer industrya-cademia cooperation is recommended in the future to further refine the solution delivered in this research once newer technologies or more detailed data from the industry are made available.